Episode 3 Music City

Hi, I'm Katy B and I love music,

and I'm taking a group of Londonderry kids

who all love music too

and giving them an opportunity to perform

on the biggest stages I can find.

We take talented young musicians more used to performing

in their bedrooms and put them in front of an audience of thousands.

Big names,

big performances, and plenty of passion.

This is Music City.

I'm in Derry, which this year is UK City of Culture.

This means its calendar is packed with world class events.

The city is determined that Derry's young people get a chance to

be involved, and have created an initiative called the Music Promise.

As part of that, we scoured Derry's schools to find 13 keen young

musicians to give them the chance to up their game,

work with some of the artists visiting this year...

I'm already liking your hand position, that's very good.

How are you? I'm Amelia.

..and perform on the biggest stages.

'I love music myself, and as a recording artist,

'I've been lucky enough to be able to make a life out of it.'

# I keep on moving with the lights on

# So, come on, play me just one more song... #

'I can't wait to be involved.

'I'd love to be here all year,

'but I've got gigs and commitments all over the world,

'so Derry musicians Glenn Rosborough and Jenny Grant

'are here to help me out.'

# And when you start to shake I'll be there for you... #

'Glenn plays in Wyldling,

'one of Northern Ireland's most promising bands.

The spark of creativity they have reignites the spark that you have,

so I'm looking forward to the eight months

and seeing where this is going to go.

'And Jenny is a leading Derry harpist and music teacher.'

It's really inspiring to think

that these kids really have so much

potential, so I'm really excited to see what they come up with.

Last time, 14-year-old singer-songwriter Hannah

played her songs in public for the very first time and she loved it.

I am on Cloud Nine.

Hannah went down well at her debut performance,

but it was to an older audience.

She needs to play a crowd who will be more in tune with the pop

culture references in the lyrics of the great songs she is writing.

So I have an exciting plan.

So here we are at Hannah's school.

I'm about to surprise her, she has no idea I'm coming,

to let her know about her next big gig.

I haven't been to school in a while, so here goes.

MUSIC: "Mission Impossible Theme" by Lalo Schifrin

(So I'm about to interrupt her Health and Social Care class.)

I can't wait to tell her what her gig is.

It's definitely going to be the biggest gig of her life.

Hello!

Sorry to disturb your class, but I'm here to see Hannah.

How are you? You good? Aww!

-How are you?

-I'm good, how are you doing?

-Pretty good.

I'm here to tell you about your next gig, your next big gig.

Erm, I heard, when you played your last gig, erm, the people there were

a little bit older, so they didn't really get, like, they didn't

really appreciate the Harry Styles jokes and stuff like that.

So, erm, we've gone and got you another gig,

and it's going to be at CBBC Live

on the Main Stage in Leeds,

and there's going to be over 4,000 people at this event, so...

It's a pretty big gig.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Yeah!

-So this is your class, yeah?

-This is my Health and Social Care class.

Brilliant. Have they heard your songs?

-Erm...

-No.

-No.

-Who wants to hear Hannah sing?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# I, when I'm all grown up

# I want to rock the stage

# I want to get older but never age

# And have a slight obsession

# With a lazy-eyed man named Russell Howard

# Oh, I'mma put on a show

# To show you me

# Let you hear my musical autobiography... #

So you're going to be singing that in Leeds

in front of a massive audience.

-How are you feeling?

-Really nervous already. It's like...

Guys, do you think she can do it?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

All right, see you later, Hannah. See you soon.

Nice to meet you, girls. See you later.

ALL: Bye!

GIRLS CHEER HANNAH

'That went down well.'

It's actually so surreal. Like, it doesn't feel real.

It feels like a dream.

Music dreams is what Music City is all about.

Last time, I met 13-year-old Shay.

He is a DJ with big ambitions.

In the future I would like to do something really big like a festival.

More used to playing for his cousins,

he recently upped his game and lined himself up a slot

supporting local dance legends Japanese Popstars

in one of Derry's leading venues.

But only one thing was missing...

A crowd.

I do feel a bit less excited when there's not a lot of people there.

I'm determined Shay gets the crowd he so wants,

so I've organised for him, in just three weeks' time,

to play at a major festival

supporting Radio 1 star Phil Taggart.

I've no doubts about Shay's ability, but he's got a big challenge ahead.

He should go straight to the top for a helping hand.

Shay is headed for London, where I've arranged for him

to meet Radio 1's very own Scott Mills.

A bit scary on trains.

It's like you look at something, trees or something, just bam!

It's the first time Shay has ever headed for the bright lights

of the big city, which makes it an adventure in itself.

I'm glad to be out of the tube, that was a bit scary.

I didn't expect to see the actual red buses or the black taxis.

I thought that was just, like, a stereotype.

Scott Mills is a DJing legend.

He's done it all, from hosting his own Radio 1 show

to performing to thousands at festivals all over the world.

He's a proper DJ. Like, like, beat-matching and everything.

-Oh, no, I can't even do that.

-I said that.

LAUGHTER

Oh, no. Need to watch my back.

Shay settles in to hear a bit of Scott's show

before quizzing him on how to handle a festival crowd.

How do you feel about DJing in front of a crowd? Is it scary?

I used to really, really get scared, but, erm,

the more you do it the less scared you become,

and, erm, it's actually really exciting,

because the crowd are kind of,

if you look up for a second from the decks and actually

look at what the crowd are doing, that's when it's, like, amazing.

-Does it scare you?

-Erm...

-Sort of.

-But I think the adrenaline of when you get out there

and you see all those people, initially it'll be scary,

but once you've started I think you'd be fine.

Cos they're all there to have a good time,

so, you know, it's going to be great, it's going to be fine.

Time for Shay to start preparing his festival set.

Back in Derry, another Music City kid

is about to start his musical journey.

Conall, come on, there's a match at the Brandywell!

Come on, look, wait till you see what I got you.

14-year-old Conall loves football.

Come on, the Candystripes! Come on, get it on you now.

We'll get down to the Brandywell.

Programmes!

Every home game, he heads for the Brandywell Stadium

to support his beloved Derry City with his grandad Tommy.

He has good reason to feel a special connection to the club.

Me grandad used to be the groundsman in there,

and he used to take me down to do a wee bit of...

-Who was driving the tractor?

-Me.

I used to drive the tractor when I was about seven.

Another passion he shares with Tommy is Irish music.

He bought Conall his first fiddle,

and now he plays small events around the city.

When he practises at home, he always has one dedicated super-fan.

CONALL PLAYS A REEL

HE LAUGHS

That dog's dancing!

CONALL PLAYS REEL

So I'm just on my way to see Conall now.

I'm really intrigued by his fiddle playing and his traditional

Irish roots, so hopefully I'll get to hear some more.

'Irish folk music is a genre I know very little about,

'but it feels like I've come to the right place to learn.'

-Hello.

-Hi, Conall!

-He-ey!

-How's it going?

THEY PLAY A JIG

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-That was brilliant. Thank you so much.

-That was a bit of fun.

-What's that piece called, or has it got a name?

-Erm, the music?

-Yeah.

-Harvest Home.

-Not like the stuff you're doing!

-Yeah!

'Conall's grandad Tommy introduced him to the fiddle

'when he was very young.'

I was watching the TV.

-It was musical and I started tapping my foot.

-Aww!

-And he said, he thought to himself, there could be something there.

-Yeah.

-So then he got me a fiddle.

-What, there and then?

-Aye.

-Oh, cool.

-Ever since then I was playing the fiddle.

So now I've met Conall,

I have definitely got a bit of a vibe for his Irish roots.

I've had his sisters doing Irish dancing in the living room,

him playing the fiddle for me,

so I'm really going to have to find something with a traditional vibe

in the city this year for him to perform at.

While I'm having a think about what event Conall could perform at,

Shay is gearing up for his very own DJ slot at the Glasgowbury Festival.

Details have been published in a national newspaper.

Not only will he find out what time he is on,

he'll be able to find out just how long he's playing for.

So I'm hoping for a half an hour shift, that would be the best.

I don't think they'll give me anything over that.

There you are. So I'm on for an hour

and I'm on at half seven to half eight. So that's brilliant.

I wasn't expecting to be that late or have that amount of time to play.

So, that's...

I think I'm going to enjoy that.

Shay wastes no time in getting down to preparing his hour-long DJ set.

It's a very skilled job.

He chooses the tracks that he thinks will attract a crowd

and keep them dancing.

He has to work out what song is going to float effortlessly into

another by matching the beats in the song, or the BPM as the DJs call it.

A set list is completely different from a playlist on something like iTunes.

That's what most people think it is. The music I make's very technical.

Not content with just picking the best tunes and mixing them

into each other, Shay is able to add his own musical compositions

which help improve his set.

There's a lot of work that I have to do before I'm happy with it.

If you listen to it together with everything else...

BEATS OF MUSIC

That's the kick into the song. That's the kick you use.

I'm thinking about changing it.

At the touch of a button, Shay can call upon a full orchestra of

musical instruments to enhance the sound of the tracks he has picked.

DRUM BEATS PLAY

So I'm thinking this pattern, just simple. Just playing in.

Usually I just play around with the drum patterns.

DRUM BEATS PLAY

Just going to loop it to see if it sounds all right.

TECHNO MUSIC PLAYS

That sounds better, I think.

It sounds better than just the plain four-four-kick.

Hannah too has been working on her big gig in Leeds.

-Come on through.

-Oh, my gosh.

-This is the live room.

She has written a new song especially for the show.

Glenn has got her in the studio to work on it and record a demo.

She has all the confidence in the world

when she plays other people's songs,

but when it comes to the brilliant songs she's written herself,

it is a different story.

# So here we are

# Just me and my guitar like the lone park ranger

# Writing songs for a stranger.... #

I might change the format a wee tiny bit. Don't be worrying. For live,

keep it the way you're doing it.

# California girls... #

In preparation for her Leeds concert,

I want to convince her that she really belongs in the big time.

I always think to play my own songs, it's a bit of a risk.

It's always a bit of a risk,

like, are they going to like it?

Are they going to hate it?

One of the headline events of City of Culture is Radio 1's

Big Weekend and I'm sending her to soak up the atmosphere

and meet Woody, who is the drummer

in one of her favourite bands, Bastille.

# I was left to my own devices

# Many days... #

I actually do a cover of one of your songs. I do a cover of Pompeii.

Nice. Can I please hear your cover?

-OK.

-If that's all right, yeah?

-OK, yes.

-Let's hear it, then.

# I was left in my own devices... #

'I never thought like, I would be sitting here playing Pompeii with,'

you know, one of the guys that wrote the song.

# Eh-oh eh-oh

# Eh-eh-oh eh-oh... #

'While Hannah is rubbing shoulders with her favourite pop stars,

'guess who else she bumps into?'

So how are you feeling that you're going to be

performing on a big stage outside like this at Radio 1?

No words, like, I'm just...

Even just being here today is like, "What?"

To think that I'm going to be doing something like that

is just...mental.

Music City isn't just about individual performances.

Our entire group of 13 are all working on a performance that they

will do together. I've chosen the song Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.

But when it was announced, it didn't go down too well.

It always is playing when someone gets put out of the X Factor.

Everyone keeps saying that they hear it all the time

-so it's played out.

-Yeah!

-So we revamp it.

OK, guys, is it nice and warm in there?

So I think I'll have to do something radical to get the ball rolling.

For real.

No!

SHE SCREAMS

Oh, my God!

# My feet, feet can't touch the ground and I can't hear a sound... #

-Don't go!

-Whaaa!

SHOUTING

Waaaaaaah!

Why don't we just get into practice?

# Words don't mean a thing

# I'm not listening

# Keep talking all night long... #

Next, I'm going to inject more fun into their way of thinking

about the song.

I'm getting them to visualise the various different parts

by spraying them on a wall.

OK, guys. Now we're going to try and workshop our ideas.

We're all going to get paint and grab a colour each.

That's going to be like your part, so this is a big blank canvas.

This is the start of the song

and way down there's the end of the song.

So every person has a colour

and the more colours we have, the more people there are.

If there's only one colour, there will be only one thing playing.

# All you got to do now, express yourself... #

Do you think the piano should come in here, then?

I could make the beats, along with the piano.

Do you want to try and maybe put in some colour?

At the end, we should all come in together and have that really big...

I think it really unlocked everybody's, kind of, creative side.

-And made everybody think about each other.

-Expressed themselves more.

They've really bonded well together today. The graffiti was a great way

to start, but I think we need to take all this

and go back to the practice rooms and get a concrete plan.

The group have definitely made their mark.

Let's hope this can inspire them in the practice room.

Shay's big day has arrived

Glasgowbury is the largest independent

festival in Northern Ireland,

with over 5,000 people dancing to some of the biggest local acts.

Shay is there to keep the party going.

He heads straight to the dance stage,

to check out where he'll be taking to the decks,

right before Radio 1's Phil Taggart plays a headline set.

Watching the other DJs at work

and, crucially, how the crowd are reacting to the music,

Shay makes a difficult decision.

I was watching some of the DJs for a while and I've decided to change

some of the tracks about. I will play the same tracks,

but maybe start off with something, erm, something like you hear now,

that's not too, eh, pumping.

I'm going to be on shortly,

so I'm heading to the back of the stage.

Shay feels the set list he has spent so long preparing

might not be what the crowd want to hear, so with just half an hour

before he's due to go on, he scraps it.

I'm happy to do it, but I don't really want to be doing it,

because I have the set perfectly made, where I know what time

they mix in and what time they mix out.

And I'm going to be taking a risk, just playing a song that

I don't know if it works and they want another song.

The mix is going to be a bit difficult.

HE SIGHS

It's all part of being a DJ. You have to take risks in playing

and just try and know what everybody wants to hear.

Only a few months ago, Shay was playing to an empty room,

but now he's preparing to play the biggest gig of his life.

The question is, will he be able to step up and make it up

as he goes along, track by track?

-ANNOUNCER:

-Ladies and gentlemen, your DJ for the evening,

give it up for Shay Whelan!

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

First track down and the crowd are still dancing.

He's under pressure to keep his good start going.

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

It seems to be working. Shay's last-minute music choices

are bringing more and more people to the dance stage.

It looks like he's really pulled it off. Go on, Shay!

DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

Give it up for Shay Whelan!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Only 13!

How sick was that?!

Give it again, give it again, give it again, give it again!

Never had a feeling like that before. I was so happy.

The set, they turned out perfect.

Never been this happy in my life.

Oh...

Having played a blinding set of brilliant dance music,

Shay is finding out what it really feels like to be a superstar DJ.

'When I came down, I was signing autographs,

'getting hugs, everything. Everybody recognised me!'

It's good to be recognised. That's what every DJ wants.

It's what you need, just to be recognised.

But there is one part of being a superstar DJ that Shay

is not entirely comfortable with.

-Give me a wee kiss.

-No, you're all right.

-Oh-ho!

How mad was that?

And that even goes for his mum!

This was the best gig I've ever played.

Best type of day - sunny weather, outdoors -

best reaction, best crowd - everything.

An event to top even Glasgowbury is due in Derry

in just three weeks - The All-Ireland Fleadh,

the world's biggest celebration of Irish music is going to hit town

and over 400,000 people are expected.

Thinking about Conall's talents on the fiddle,

that is just too good an opportunity to miss.

-How are you getting on, then?

-Grand.

-Playing away?

I've landed him a top spot in the programme

and Jenny is helping me break the news.

Cara Dillon is a wonderful Irish artist

and she wants you to join her and her band for their big show

on the last night of the festival. This is a massive opportunity

and you're going to have to work really hard to be ready in time.

This might be totally different to anything else you've ever done

and it's going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of practice to be

ready in time and be focused,

but I am more than sure that you are capable of doing this.

-Brilliant!

-It's class.

Going to be a quick turnaround. He hasn't got long to learn it.

It's going to be hard graft. A lot of practice.

The Fleadh is just three short weeks away

and the family holiday in Donegal - an unmoveable annual event -

lies smack in the middle of Conall's build-up.

It doesn't help that Cara has given him a tough tune to learn,

-right at the edge of his ability.

-Are you worried about this new tune?

Well, it's just the standard and the speed of it.

The speed? The best way to learn a tune is to whistle it.

And whistle it at the speed that it's played.

So, that will give your wee brain a notion that, "Here, I have to

"play this at a certain speed."

-Would you rather be playing tunes or washing dishes?

-Playing tunes.

Would you?

FIDDLE MUSIC PLAYS

Rather than whistle it, Conall chooses to listen to the tune

over and over again on his tablet.

I have to learn it without sheet music.

I have to learn it by ear, so it's going to be hard to learn it.

Even though his sisters and cousins are enjoying the water,

Conall gets on with the job at hand.

It's hard to start off with. It's swing fast.

I think I'm going to need a bit of help with this one.

Conall still has a couple of weeks to learn Cara's tune.

But for Hannah, her big day has arrived.

She is in Leeds for her concert, and in just two hours,

she will see if she can successfully complete her journey

from bedroom songwriter to big-stage performer.

-There's the stage, Hannah.

-Ooh!

-Big enough?

-Yeah!

HE LAUGHS

Just 15 minutes to go

and Hannah isn't the one who is feeling the pressure.

I'm sick as a dog!

I am so nervous, I am going to throw up all over the place!

I am not coping very well with it, so.

SHE SIGHS

APPLAUSE

Dick and Dom are on stage and nearly ready

to introduce Hannah and her songs to the audience.

-Jeepers!

-Just wait here two seconds.

CHEERING

Argh!

Oh, my God.

-Relax, enjoy yourself and remember to smile.

-OK.

Have a really good time. This is your moment.

I never thought I'd get to here, where I am, ever,

and I'm really nervous now, so don't talk to me!

This is it. It is time for Hannah to play her new song

to a crowd for the very first time.

Make a big Leeds noise, and a big welcome, for Hannah!

Hi!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# I feel sorry for the girl

# Who came before

# Cos I don't know who you are

# Any more

# So here we are

# Just me and my guitar

# Like the lone park ranger Writing a song for a stranger

# And I'm sorry for wasting your time

# But in a way, you'll always be mine

# So, here we are

# Just me and my guitar

# Like the lone park ranger Writing a song for a stranger. #

Thank you.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'I loved everybody.'

I loved the audience, I loved... I loved every second of it.

You did class!

I never thought I'd get to where I am now.

I always thought I was just going to be Bedroom Hannah.

Amazing. It's an amazing feeling.

Next time...

singer Chloe gets to rock out with a band.

# Bring it up now, girl, bring it up now, girl... #

Pianist Darryl impresses me with his skills.

What do you mean "They're not too good"? That's amazing.

And Conall prepares for a performance of a lifetime.

Your hands get sweaty and your fingers are slipping.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd